Harvard goes to Washington

Alumni, faculty win seats in House, Senate

November 7, 2012 |
Editor's Pick

Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer

Michael Lewis '93 (left) and Cary Gemmer, assistant director of Classes and Reunions for the Harvard Alumni Association, watched election results at Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square. Tuesday night’s national elections sent a number of Harvard alumni and affiliates off to Washington.

In a tight contest for the presidency, one thing was for certain: a Harvard graduate would occupy the White House come January. But newly re-elected President Barack Obama, J.D. ’91, was hardly the only Harvardian to win a race Tuesday night.

Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, was elected to the Senate, making her the first woman to represent Massachusetts in the legislative body.

Harvard alumni can boast two new senators in Washington. Republican Ted Cruz, J.D. ’95, of Texas, and Democrat Tim Kaine, J.D. ’83, of Virginia, join 10 Harvard alumni in the Senate who were not up for re-election this year. New Mexico Democrat Jeff Bingaman ’65 and Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl, M.B.A. ’58, are retiring.

The House now counts 31 Harvard alumni among its 435 members, among them 19 incumbents and 12 new congressmen. Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank ’61, J.D. ’77, is retiring. (As of Wednesday, three congressional races involving alumni had not yet been called but leaned in the Harvard candidates’ favor, and are represented in these figures.)

In addition, a number of other candidates with Harvard ties — including graduates of executive education programs at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and Harvard Business School, and former fellows and directors of the Institute of Politics (IOP) — were successful Tuesday. Of those candidates, 14 incumbents and one challenger won seats in the House. (One race remained too close to call.) Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a former professor and fellow at HKS and the IOP, won re-election to the Senate.

Michael Lewis '93 (left) and Cary Gemmer, assistant director of Classes and Reunions for the Harvard Alumni Association, watched election results at Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square. Tuesday night’s national elections sent a number of Harvard alumni and affiliates off to Washington.

Three weeks after a remarkably nasty presidential election, emotions remain raw, as was evidenced when the Trump and Clinton camps met for the first time at Harvard Kennedy School for a debriefing conference this week.

A new Harvard center on health and happiness had its academic coming-out party Friday, hosting a daylong symposium that highlighted what science does and doesn’t say about the interaction of health and happiness, and identifying pathways where investigators should probe next.

Related

As voters across the United States traipsed to the polls and awaited the election results, so did students, faculty, and staff members at Harvard, the University that helped to educate both major presidential candidates.